My Peugeot 106 Zest Progress

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 02 Feb 2011, 10:07

I bought my 1999 106 1.1 Zest 2 in October 2009. It was bought after a brief and uncomfortable flirtation with a Mazda that ended because I missed my little Saxo. I considered a few cars including a 406 and a Xantia/Xsara but settled on the 106 as it is a second family car and usually only used by me for work, visiting friends/family, etc. It has 74k on the clock.

I always have liked my cars to be in tip top condition and although this car was not bad there were several jobs to be done. Having just passed the MOT in January I thought I would get started and I will give a running commentary on my progress here.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 02 Feb 2011, 10:17

The 106 had the usual Saxo/106 rust issue in the boot. They rust just above and along the seams on both sides. I also has some rust dribble marks running down from under the trim in the boot on both sides. Not wanting it to get any worse I set about stripping the boot so get a grip on how bad the problem was.

These horrible scabby patches were on both sides.

And the marks here didn't bode well.

Once the trim was removed I could see that there was surface rust around the rear seatbelt mount on the passengers side and around the trim on the drivers side.

So out came the grinder and wire brush. It did require a bit of welding on the worst part, the big scab in the photo above. The rest was fine, so I treated it and gave it a few coats of primer before spraying it.

The boot now looks pretty good and most importantly, it is solid and rust free.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 02 Feb 2011, 14:02

The next job was to derust and underseal the floorpan and arches. I got a jack and axle stands out and lifted the car, removed the rear wheels and wire brushed the entire floorpan and rear arches and applied a thick layer of Waxoyl. The car was solid underneath and in the arches but obviously not looking too hot after 12 years.

The spare wheel holder was just one big blob of rust, so it got a lot of attention from the wire brush and then a couple of coats of Hammerite.

Hopefully this work will keep the rust at bay for a good few years to come.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 02 Feb 2011, 14:17

One particularly annoying discovery whilst under the car was that the spare wheel was flat and wheel itself was badly damaged. A trip to a scrapyard and £20 later and a replacement 3 stud wheel with a good tyre is now under the car in a rust free holder.

To bring me up to date, the car had a chip in the windscreen on the passengers side when I bought it. A call to AA Autowindshields got that repaired this morning. By the way, the AA were great at sorting this for me and it didn't cost a penny. Fantastic service.

Jobs still to do in no particular order:

Tidy the bodywork.
Give the interior a good clean.
Clean the engine bay.
Full service.
New numberplates (the old ones are shabby).
Anything else that crops up or comes to mind.

robert_e_smart · Post by **robert_e_smart** » 02 Feb 2011, 17:11

I didn't realise those saxos and 106s were prone to rust like that.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 02 Feb 2011, 17:20

Unfortunately they are, but only ever in the areas shown above. The bodywork and floor etc generally doesn't rust.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 02 Feb 2011, 19:09

It looks like a very tidy little 106, good colour too.

Your rust fix in the boot is impressive, you wouldn't know its been repaired.

Ive not seen a Saxo/106 with that rust, though ive seen it on AXs.

We had a Saxo Desire 1.1 for about 7 years which we got new in 2001, a great little car, virtually no problems in the 7 years or 80K.

Very good cars, they drive well too.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 03 Feb 2011, 13:26

So I turned to the bodywork today, which is actually very clean. The one area that was annoying me was the passengers side front wing. Where it meets the bumper there is a little bit of paint missing and it's starting to rust, so it needs sorted.

This is a close up so it's not as bad as it looks here.

So, off to Halfords I went for a touch up kit for which I was robbed to the sum of nearly £12. It includes a little tube of primer, a tube of paint and a tube of laquer as well as a fibreglass tool to remove loose paint and a buffer.

So I sanded down the edge of the wing and cleaned it to apply the primer. I have to wait 24 hours between stages.

So far so good, then I lifted the bonnet and poked at what I thought was a piece of surface rust. It wasn't... It's holed in the inner wing between the back of the passengers side headlamp and the fuse box.

That'll need welding...

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 03 Feb 2011, 14:37

Uh oh... Anyone for mayo?

This only developed this afternoon. The fan was on contantly whilst driving. It hasn't overheated yet.

Typical. Just order a head gasket, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs and drive belt from Euro Car Parts. May as well service it while I'm at it.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 03 Feb 2011, 17:24

Oh, not a good day for your 106 then!

Headgaskets are not that uncommon on the 1.0 and 1.1 PSA engines.

I look after a 1.1 Saxo Desire for someone, one owner car with 120K miles. I keep thinking its headgasket looks like its going, as despite it doing a few miles it often has mayo under the cap, but its never gotten any worse. It does use a bit of coolant but then I think the heater matrix is on its way out, as the passenger foot well contains coolant. Though someone has put something strange in there as a sealant, as its like jelly. Ive since flushed it and put in some Forte radiator stop leak, which seems to have done the job. The owner was talking about giving it up this year for a new car, I think it will be scrapped! Shame as its not a bad car, no rust that I can see, though I know now where to look thanks to your pics!

Its not too bad a job the headgasket on these. Yours has obviously gone very suddenly!

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 03 Feb 2011, 17:33

I did the headgasket on my old Saxo, it's pretty straightforward. They are easy little engines to work on. It did let go all of a sudden, but once the parts arrive it'll be back on the road very shortly after. Funny old day.

robert_e_smart · Post by **robert_e_smart** » 03 Feb 2011, 18:32

Has the H/G went, or is that just damp from repeated short journeys?

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 03 Feb 2011, 18:34

robert_e_smart wrote:Has the H/G went, or is that just damp from repeated short journeys?

Looks too bad to be just condensation, it also looks like its pushed out coolant.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 03 Feb 2011, 19:36

Yeah, the drive was dry this morning. That damp patch happened after I parked up when it started to overheat. I'm pretty certain the gasket has gone.

stevenc75 · Post by **stevenc75** » 15 Feb 2011, 15:48

Repaired the 106 and just took a deposit on it from it's soon to be new owner. Looking for a clean Citroen now Saxo/Xsara/Xantia. On a limited budget though of about £500.